Eric Ciotti, the mayor of the French city of Nice, has proposed granting honorary citizenship to 20 Armenian prisoners serving lengthy sentences in Azerbaijan. He made the announcement at a rally in their support. Ciotti also called for their immediate and unconditional release.

“I have made a commitment to propose granting honorary citizenship of the city of Nice to 20 Armenian prisoners from Artsakh. This is an important gesture intended to express our solidarity with these people, who are being unjustly held in Baku. Nice will continue to press for their release!” the mayor wrote on X.

During the rally outside the city hall, photographs of the prisoners were displayed, decorated with ribbons in the colours of the Armenian flag. The event was attended by members of the Armenian community and French historian and journalist Jean-Christophe Buisson.

The prisoners include former members of the unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’s military and political leadership, among them former presidents Arayik Harutyunyan, Arkadi Ghukasyan and Bako Sahakyan; former state minister Ruben Vardanyan; former parliament speaker Davit Ishkhanyan; former commander of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defence Army Levon Mnatsakanyan; and his former deputy, Davit Manukyan.

On 5 February 2026, an Azerbaijani court sentenced 15 defendants in cases involving former members of the Karabakh leadership. Five, including Arayik Harutyunyan, received life sentences. Ruben Vardanyan was sentenced to 20 years in prison. According to Amnesty International, the defendants were collectively charged with 2,548 offences, including genocide, enslavement, enforced disappearances and financing terrorism.

Ciotti’s initiative provoked a sharp reaction in Baku. On 24 October, the pro-government Azerbaijani outlet Minval Politika published an angry article entitled “Nice — a Luxury Haven for Scoundrels, or the French Order of Moral Decay”. It accused the mayor of double standards and mocked his intention to support former Nagorno-Karabakh leaders convicted by an Azerbaijani court.

The article argued that French municipal authorities could not influence Azerbaijan’s judicial system and that honorary citizenship did not amount to the rehabilitation of convicted individuals. “This is not rehabilitation, but merely a cosmetic makeover at public expense,” the article said sarcastically.

Minval Politika also used insulting language, describing the proposed honorary citizens as members of a “club of political scum with honorary titles”. The authors accused French politicians of judging other countries “from the heights of a moral belfry” while ignoring France’s own historical problems, including its colonial past.

“Someone else’s political sympathy is not an acquittal,” the publication concluded.

Amnesty International has also criticised the trials of former members of the Karabakh leadership. In a statement issued in February 2026 following Ruben Vardanyan’s sentencing, the international human rights organisation described the proceedings as a “travesty of justice”.

“The very fact that Ruben Vardanyan and other defendants, some of whom were civilians, were tried before a military court raises serious concerns and is incompatible with fair trial guarantees,” said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

According to the organisation, the trial was conducted largely behind closed doors, and the materials on which the prosecution relied were presented in a language the defendants did not understand, without adequate translation. Amnesty International also noted that the charges against Vardanyan, which included more than 40 counts, including terrorism and crimes against humanity, were not fully disclosed during the proceedings.

The organisation said it had requested information about the trial and the evidence from the Azerbaijani authorities but had received no response. Amnesty International also expressed concern over reports that Vardanyan had been subjected to ill-treatment, forced to sign fabricated case materials and given insufficient time to prepare his defence.

“These convictions are an affront to all victims of crimes under international law,” Struthers said. The organisation stressed, however, that victims of the decades-long conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, both in Armenia and in Azerbaijan, deserve truth, justice, reparation and guarantees that such crimes will not be repeated.

Amnesty International called on Azerbaijan to ensure that international fair trial standards are upheld in the cases of all defendants. The organisation’s assessment concerns the conduct of the proceedings and respect for the defendants’ rights; it does not replace judicial examination of the evidence relating to the substance of the charges.